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Lost Talisman
“Why even bother teaching her?”
Eliza overheard some students whispering over breakfast one December morning. “Imagine being so unmagical that you don’t manifest until you’re life is halfway over. If it were me, I would’ve been too embarrassed to come.”
The group of students started laughing cruelly but the laughter turned to a shriek as the speaker began to shrink quickly down to the size of a marble.
“Well done,” said Professor Kent, who Eliza realized with a jolt had been standing right behind her. “Shrinking something as complicated as a mammal is quite advanced—more than what we worked on the other night. I’m impressed,” Eliza blushed at being caught red-handed. Professor Kent looked smart in a navy two-piece suit. “However, using magic on other students is not permitted within the walls of Kentree.” He considered Eliza with a calculating expression. “Give me your wand,” he said.
Eliza looked at Professor Kent’s extended hand in indignation. “My wand? What for?”
“As we discussed, depriving you of your wand is a tactic some may use to strip you of power. Power you clearly should not be trusted with,” he indicated the tiny student who was crying and begging for someone to make her big again. “I happen to know you’ve carved several wands now in your Energy Amplification course, so you’ll have to practice with one of those until your next class with me.”
Eliza gave Professor Kent her wand reluctantly and glared as he walked away.
“That’s so unfair! He knows I suck at wand magic, and now I won’t be able to practice properly before next week’s lesson. As if I have time to break in a new wand. I’m still behind in three of my six subjects!”
Faye was on a completely different thought. “You two look like you should be a couple.”
Eliza was taken aback, “—what?”
With a playful smile Faye poked at Eliza, “It’s just that you’re both attractive, you have similar features and you’re around the same age. You guys look like a matching pair,” Faye’s giggle was so infectious Eliza joined in.
Eliza considered this for a moment. Professor Kent’s head was blessed with thick hair, and a pronounced brow ridge. His lips were neither thin, nor plump, but had a gentle downward curve. When he had occasion to smile, his front teeth competed for space but the effect was charming. He was certainly not handsome by the standards of Hollywood leading actors. Still, Eliza had to admit there was a certain quality about him that was very appealing.
“I guess he’s good-looking... but I resist the idea that I should be into someone just because they’re my age and sort of look like me!”
“You’re right,” said Faye, laughing. “It’s a cliché. Couples often look so much like one another they could be related!” Eliza tossed a piece of bread in Faye’s direction. “But combine that confident swagger, the English accent, and an age-appropriate school-teacher fantasy and I think you could find other reasons to like him.”
*
There were just two weeks left before Yule holidays. Eliza made her way through the manicured gardens, hugging Pal warmly against her chest. She was wearing a large woolen cloak over her clothes and a warm knitted hat on her head. She headed toward the forest. It was a chilly day in December, her breath fogged in front of her, and frost kissed the grass. She loved when the seasons produced special little moments of beauty. Like when the first flowers of spring appear, or when the trees turn orange in fall, or when snow glitters like a million diamonds on a sunny winter day. Despite the cold, Eliza wanted to enjoy the first hard frost of winter. The branches of all the trees were painted white with the finest icicles of moisture.
She was about to settle herself on a bench at the edge of the forest when a figure appeared bursting suddenly from the trees.
“Ah!” yelled Eliza, dropping Pal. The cat landed on four paws and hissed at the person that had just appeared stumbling out toward them.
“S—sorry!” It was Patty, the girl with whom Eliza had supper her first day at Kentree. “I’ve just—you haven’t seen my t-talisman, have you? It’s about this size.” Patty made a circle with her hands indicating a large round object. “It has a jade in the c-center and the metal is forged into the shape of roses.”
It took a moment for Eliza to register the words, she was startled at the state of the girl. Soaked through her clothes, hair clinging wetly to her cheeks, and the tips of her hair turning white with frost. Patty’s cheeks were flushed red from the cold, but her eyes burned in desperation.
“Eliza?” prompted the girl, shivering and blue in the lips.
“No, I haven’t seen a talisman. Why? Is it important?” Eliza was bewildered. Surely getting warm and dry ought to be Patty’s priority.
“I m-made it in my first year of Energy Amplification, y-you know, the class where people make wands and s-staffs and things.”
“Yes, I’m taking it this year.”
“R-right, well, the th-thing is I’ve created all my s-spells with it ever since I made it.” Patty’s teeth chattered from cold, “It’s like a bond. It’s b-become a part of me. And it’s learned f-from me as well. I’ve been t-trying to recreate the magic I did w-with it with another amulet I made but it’s s-sluggish and s-stupid. Like starting from scratch again.” Tears streamed down the girl’s face. “I feel like I’ve lost my arm.”
Eliza understood. It was no picnic casting spells with a new wand. She learned this the hard way and was relieved when Kent gave her back her precious first wand after only a few days. She smiled kindly at Patty, “We can sort this out quickly. Do you know how to do a summoning spell? Or we can do divination and ask the Goddess to tell us where it is. Or—”
Patty cut her off, “I’ve b-been trying. I’ve had three teachers t-try to summon it for me, I’ve asked my friends to look through a c-crystal ball, tea leaves, tarot, I’ve even b-been to the enchanted p-pool to see if maybe s-someone had erased my m-memory of its location. Nothing! It’s v-vanished and I don’t know how to do m-magic without it.”
This was why the girl was soaking wet. She had been to the enchanted pool, and when that proved unsuccessful, she found herself freezing and unable to perform the magic she needed to dry herself. Eliza closed her eyes and used her hands to direct what heat she could find in the earth toward Patty. Eliza encouraged the moisture that soaked Patty’s hair and clothes to dissipate into the air. In just a few seconds, it was done, and Patty was warm and dry (though Eliza regretted that Patty’s hair now looked like a wild bird’s nest and made a mental note to refine her technique before attempting the spell again).
This display of magic did not do much to improve the girls’ spirits; Patty started sobbing loudly. Eliza reached an arm around Patty’s shoulders and accompanied her back into the center cathedral.
“I think the best thing if you’re having trouble with your magic is to have a good rest. It might just be the stress and worry of losing your talisman,” Eliza suggested, “you just need to recenter yourself.”
Patty wiped a tear hastily from her eye and glared at Eliza, “Don’t act like you know anything,” the girl spat venomously. “You think after five minutes you know more about it than I do! It’s been missing for four days. I didn’t even worry about it the first day, I knew I could theoretically do the same magic with a wand, or a staff, or even another talisman. But that’s the thing. By day two I realized I couldn’t do any magic. I’m impotent!”
Patty threw Eliza a dirty glance and launched herself down the hall, the long purple winter cloak she wore billowed behind her. Reflecting on this peculiar incident, Eliza decided she ought to discuss it with her friends at supper. Perhaps they had heard of someone losing an object and consequently losing their powers. It sounded like what Professor Kent had told her about taking away people’s wands. It wasn’t exactly the same. Patty was sure to have learned how to perform magic without her talisman. The talisman would only have assisted in enhancing her natural power, so losing it should not have meant she would also lose her abilities. Eliza had still been able to perform magic with her other wands, albeit not as well.
Eliza arrived in the Grand Room too early for supper, eager as she was to discuss the day’s events. Since neither Faye nor Mashu were presently in attendance, Eliza decided to use her time wisely. She tried to study her notes on the effects of combining different metals for Energy Amplification, but couldn’t focus. Finally, supper arrived on plates that floated out of the open kitchen doors and drifted to each table. It was with delight that the smell of steak and mushroom pie reached Eliza. She had already started eating when Mashu and Faye appeared, following the seductive scent of the evening meal.
Eliza wasted no time telling them about her peculiar run-in with Patty. Mashu didn’t seem surprised. “She’s in my year. ‘Been struggling the last few days. Keeps crying in class and can’t even make a ball of fire anymore,” Mashu snorted. Fire, Eliza had learned, was the elemental magic that was easiest to learn. “She hasn’t even been able to do any simple charms. Professors think it’s a mental block but she’s being very dramatic about it. Like someone could have done this to her on purpose.”
“What do you mean, on purpose?” asked Faye quickly.
Mashu looked uncomfortable as he glanced at Faye from beneath his thick brow, “She, um, she is starting to think she was targeted by someone... that someone took her magical ability.”
“Could that happen?” asked Eliza in a panic. She had just discovered her wonderful abilities and was loath to see them taken away.
Faye chuckled, “I doubt it. People would have done it by now if it was possible,” Faye put her fork down gently before continuing. “There are lots of stories about people no longer being able to use magic, but the general consensus is that it’s caused by an emotional shock, or trauma. They become like Mundunces. Regular people, and integrate into Mundunce society.”
Mashu was picking at his mashed potatoes feigning disinterest in the subject, but Eliza could see his body was tense as he listened.
“Caused by emotional shock? You could forget how to use magic because of a shock?”
Faye sighed dramatically, “I wish I knew more, but it’s poorly documented. When witching folk lose their magic, they are embarrassed to admit it. Or their families hush it up.”
“But this girl was seriously good at magic one day,” interjected Mashu, apparently unable to help himself. “and the next— poof. No more magic. She came into class as happy as ever, clinging to her boyfriend and giggling. It wasn’t until we started changing water into gin that she realized anything was wrong. She had no trauma when she walked in!”
Faye’s lips curled in a smile, “None that you know of.”
Eliza seized the opportunity to voice her own concerns. “I don’t like the sound of this,” she said. “Someone blocked my magical abilities for most of my life—how would it be if after all this hard work and discovery, one day you can’t do the one thing that makes you special?”
Faye dismissed this quickly, “It’s different, you had magic all along, and it sounds like you were manifesting it frequently enough. Someone just put some spells on you to keep you out of the magical world.”
“But I could lose it again,” said Eliza.
Faye appeared conflicted. “I—I mean, what if she is no longer a witch? What if the magic went away, and she will never recover it? Would that be so bad?”
Eliza cried out, “Bad? It would be the worst possible outcome! How could you ask such a thing?”
“Magic isn’t always a gift, Eliza,” replied Faye drily.
Mashu and Eliza looked at one another uncomfortably. “Is that what you would want?” asked Eliza. “Have you been considering removing your magic entirely as a solution to your flickering problem?”
Faye answered, “It would be nice just to exist in one world without watching my back in the other.”
“Is this something you’ve looked into?”
“I wish. I wrote a thesis proposal last year hoping I would be allowed to study the possibility of removing magic. But Principal Crinwere called me in to tell me they didn’t approve of such research. They also said it could too easily be used for nefarious purposes if it was determined to be possible.”
“Did you ever find anything that suggested it could be possible?” asked Eliza, worriedly.
“No, of course not! I wasn’t given access to materials that would assist in my research,” there was a touch of indignation in Faye’s tone.
Mashu glanced up from a mushroom he had just stabbed with a fork, “That alone would stop you from trying?”
It was with a bright sparkle in her eye that Faye answered, leaning forward enthusiastically in her seat. “Obviously my research is focused on the sole intent to help me. But anyone else whose magic controls them could benefit from this sort of breakthrough!” Her voice was lowered to a whisper, “I’ve heard of some kids whose magic gets so pent up and out of control they literally explode! Imagine saving lives by removing magic!”
Mashu (who had heard this before) and Eliza were not much inclined to agree with Faye. The meal ended in silence, and none of them lingered long after. Eliza retired to her room and made a silent prayer of thanks to the Lunar Goddess for the powers she had been gifted before spending a few hours studying by a light she conjured from the palm of her hand.